Tom Brady thumb injury appears to be very minor

During an appearance on "Dale & Holley" on WEEI on Monday, Belichick explained that playing time and "1-on-1 matchups" may bear some resemblance to what happens down the road but that little else about the games can compare.

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It is unclear if Tom Brady will play Friday night, Brady hurt his thumb in self described "silly accident" with a pair of scissors and missed out on the Patriots game against the Bears.

One lingering question for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is what he plans to do during a four-game suspension to open the season, which he was asked about on Tuesday.

So far, Garoppolo is 27-for-39 for 349 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a QB rating of 105.6. Brady has yet to see the field during the preseason, but as the Patriots approach Friday's third preseason game at Carolina - a game that traditionally brings extended playing time for starters - it will be the best dry run that Garoppolo will have prior to the September 11 season opener at Arizona.

With starters expected to play beyond the first half in most cases, the public tends to anticipate Week 3 as the best preseason indicator of future, regular-season performance. It was just a silly accident.

"I made a decision and I don't really have anything else to add", Belichick said on Friday, neither confirming nor denying the reports.

It took a few days (to heal), Brady said. So that's what I ended up doing. I like to be out there every time I get a chance to play. I've been missing playing. "When you see your teammates out there in their uniforms and ready to go, you want to be out there with them". He's got two remaining opportunities before the start of four-game regular-season NFL suspension for what the league says was his role in "Deflategate". "We're preparing a lot of guys to get ready to play", Brady said.

In replay, Garoppolo said, "We have a ton of conversations on a day-in, day-out basis".

"Your guess is as good as mine", Garoppolo said at Wednesday's press conference.

"It's a tough situation at times, but you can't worry about that too much", Garoppolo said.

I try to treat it no different,  Brady said. "I think he always has", Belichick said as the team broke training camp. "I just focused on how I was trying to do everything I could to get ready to play".